Chair in Integrated Osteoporosis Care

In January 2016, the Belgian government launched a call to establish local, multidisciplinary pilot projects, to start in January 2018. None of the pilot projects explicitly mentioned osteoporosis as a chronic illness, and thus the topic is still neglected. Yet every year in Belgium, osteoporosis leads to 80,000 fragility fractures – i.e. fractures that are caused by a minimal trauma such as falling from standing height, or spontaneously, for example from bending over. The lack of prioritisation of the issue, combined with the aging population, is expected to lead to an increasing number of fragility fractures which will put a serious strain on the capacity and finances of the healthcare system.

Objectives

The aim of the chair is to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated care model for women with post-menopausal osteoporosis. To this end, improvements are targeted in four critical areas:

• General practitioners’ knowledge and awareness of the risk factors for osteoporosis;
• Screening of people at high risk, and diagnosis by general practitioners;
• Drawing up tailor-made treatment plans for the patient (person-centred care);
• Promoted integrated collaboration.

Donors

Period

2018-present

Supervisor

Prof. Liesbeth Borgermans (guest professor)

Dr. Liesbeth Borgermans has a Master’s in medical social sciences and hospital management (1993). In 2010 she became Doctor in Medical Sciences. She works as a guest lecturer in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Ghent University.

Dr. Borgermans has interests in policy, research and practice, encompassing a wide range of domains including integrated care, chronic care management, primary care, and community care. She supports national policy and commissioning bodies, institutions, and think tanks. She has also been advisor for the World Health Organisation (WHO) since 2011.